Never talk about religion or politics

The received wisdom that you should "never discuss religion or politics in polite company," and similar guidance on social etiquette, is based on the assumption that talking about topics on which people may hold passionate and diverse opinions can lead to unpleasant arguments, conflict and hostility.

It is just received wisdom: searching the Internet reveals no specific author, but rather it's something your parents probably told you or should have told you.

What is dangerous about it is that behind it lies a thoroughly conservative attitude: don't question, don't challenge, don't change anything important. It's also boring: keep it light, be bland, and so on.

It's odd to come across a variant of the maxim among Quakers, dedicated plain-speaking Friends of the Truth that they are, with a tradition of confronting authority in matters of religious and spiritual belief. But one of the reasons why Friends say we should not have party-politics in the Meeting House is precisely this: we want to avoid talking about topics that can lead to unpleasant arguments, conflict and hostility.

Others in the Meeting say we should keep religion and politics separate. On this topic, consider the following:

Those who say that religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion means. (M K Gandhi, Autobigraphy, pp. 370-1)

The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores [i.e the emerging U.S.A] the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe in blood for centuries. [James Madison, objecting to the use of government land for churches, 1803]

Living out our Faith in the World

I asked in advance of the 25 June 2016 Quaker ​​Regional Gathering at Colchester Meeting House if I could discuss my theme of religion/politics there. ​​The theme was to be "Answering that of God, Living out our Faith in the World" [emphasis added].

I was noting that Britain Yearly Meeting (UK Quakers' AGM, if you like) in 2106 has been exhorting Friends on the theme of "… Living out our Faith in the World" which, in my view, means putting our faith energy into political and social change.

But I was told Quaker ​​Regional Gathering would in fact be a Kindlers workshop: that's the Quaker group "working to rekindle the power of Quaker worship by renewing and deepening our spiritual practices". So, sorry, but it wouldn't really be the place for me to come and discuss my conviction ("concern" in Quaker terminology) that "Living out our Faith in the World" means more involvement in political and social action. Among other things, this is because "living out our faith in the world doesn't necessarily mean working for political change,"

What does "Living out our Faith in the World" mean, then?